Stopper Carlos Rodon Not Great As New York Yankees Battle In Game 3

A stopper, that is what Carlos Rodon wants to be. He pitched like an ace, but not so much tonight. The Yankees lost the third game of the series against the Boston Red Sox 11-7. In every game between the rivals, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, the scoring was back and forth. Rodon had a favorable pitching matchup against newcomer Hunter Dobbins, but it did not work out for him. The inconsistency for Rodon returned, and it may have cost him an All-Star berth. What do you think will be the starting pitching matchup in the All-Star Game?

Lineups: Stopper Rodon against Dobbins

The Boston Red Sox had Jarren Duran as the left fielder, batting leadoff. Rafael Devers was the designated hitter, batting second. Rob Refsnyder was the right fielder, batting third. Wilyer Abreau pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning, and he stayed in to play right field. Carlos Narváez was the catcher, batting fourth.

Romy Gonzalez was the first baseman and batted fifth. He almost hit for the cycle last night. Marcelo Mayer came in for him in the eighth inning. Abraham Toro was the third baseman and batted sixth.  He moved to first base in the eighth inning. Trevor Story was the shortstop and batted seventh. Ceddanne Rafaela was the center fielder and batted eighth. Kristian Campbell was the second baseman and batted ninth. David Hamilton pinch-ran for him in the eighth inning, and he stayed in to play second base.

For the Yankees, Ben Rice batted first and was the designated hitter. Aaron Judge was the right fielder and batted second. Cody Bellinger batted third and was the left fielder. Paul Goldschmidt was the first baseman and batted fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was the third baseman and batted fifth. Anthony Volpe was the shortstop and batted sixth.

Trent Grisham was the center fielder and batted seventh. DJ LeMahieu was the second baseman and batted eighth. JC Escarra was the catcher, batting ninth. Austin Wells pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning. He stayed in to play catcher.

Game Reaction

Judge is a monster. He hit a two-run home run in the first inning and came into the game batting .591 off rookie pitchers, which Dobbins is. Dobbins, looked pretty good. He threw his fastball in the upper 90s, and he threw a slider, a curve, and a sinker. After giving up a first-inning home run to Judge, he settled down.

It is disappointing how poorly the stopper Rodon pitched in this game, but every game between the Red Sox and Yankees is this way. Rodon was not the stopper in this game that the Yankees wanted him to be.

Then the Yankee bullpen came in and poured gasoline on the fire. The Red Sox scored five runs in the sixth inning. It got worse from there for Yankee fans. The Yankees needed their bullpen to be stoppers. To make the game a little longer, the Red Sox changed their pitcher with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning with a four-run lead.

News and Notes

Before the game, Judge was asked what he would tell his ten-year-old self. He said, “Just have fun.” Is there a better person? Volpe was back in the starting lineup after being hit by a pitch two nights ago. That was very good for the Yankees. Volpe is having a good year, and he plays stellar defense. He is vital to the Yankees.

Narvaez is a former Yankee farmhand. There are many former Yankee catchers on the rosters of teams around the league. Dobbins has some bravado. Before the game, he told Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Globe, “If the Yankees were the last team to give me a contract, I’d retire.” He should learn not to mouth off against dangerous opponents, like the Yankees.

Scoring Summary

In the first inning, Judge hit a two-run home run. The Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead. That has not meant much in this series, but with stopper Rodon going for the Yankees, maybe tonight would be a different story.

In the fifth inning, Campbell hit a two-run home run. The game was tied at two. In the fifth inning, LeMahieu hit a solo home run. The Yankees took a 3-2 lead. In the sixth inning, Narvaez hit a two-run home run, and Devers and Refsnyder scored. It was 5-3 Red Sox. Later in the sixth, Duran hit a single, and Toro and Story scored. It was 7-3 Red Sox.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Chisholm Jr. hit a sacrifice fly and Judge scored. That cut Boston’s lead to 7-4. Then Grisham walked with the bases loaded, and Bellinger scored. That brought the Yankees to within 2, 7-5. In the eighth inning, Toro hit a solo home run. That extended the Boston lead to 8-5. And then Story hit a solo home run, and it was 9-5, Boston.

In the ninth inning, Devers hit a solo home run. That made it 10-5, Boston. That was Devers’ 30th home run against the Yankees in his career. Then Toro doubled and Mayer scored. That made it 11-5 Red Sox. In the ninth inning, Judge hit a two-run home run, and Wells scored. It was 11-7, Boston.

Conclusion

The stopper Rodon threw 4.2 scoreless innings and then fell apart. The Yankees were hoping Rodon could be a stopper, but he was not. He may have cost himself an All-Star nod with this poor performance. What they needed was someone to take the mound, shove, and be the stopper to the brief one-game losing streak. What they got was much less. So, behind “the stopper” Rodon, the Yankees lost this rubber game and this series. The Yankees are off on Monday and travel to Kansas City to take on Boddy Witt Jr. and the Royals. It will be a sad trip.